A court panel on Tuesday blocked Texas’ effort to redraw district maps to grant Republicans five more seats in the House of Representatives.
The ruling could be a significant setback to Republicans heading into next year’s midterm elections.
From The Hill:
A panel of federal judges in Texas on Tuesday blocked the state’s new GOP-favored House map from being used ahead of the 2026 midterms, dealing a blow to Republicans who have looked to pick up seats in the House next year.
In a 2-1 vote, the panel ordered Texas Republicans on Tuesday to use the congressional lines they had in place before they redistricted earlier this year. The new map would have offered Republicans up to five pickup opportunities in the House in 2026.
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote for the majority.
“To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map,” he continued. “But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”
The ruling leaves Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and state Republicans free to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Appointed to the bench by President Trump, Brown was joined by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an appointee of former President Obama.
U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, an appointee of former President Reagan, dissented. His opinion was not immediately filed on the public docket.
Texas typically redraws its districts every ten years. But state lawmakers passed a measure earlier this year enabling them to redistrict in the middle of the decade. National Republican leaders, including President Donald Trump, pushed for this move to shore up GOP control over the lower chamber in the 2026 midterms.
Texas Republican lawmakers argued that a recent federal court decision rendered existing “coalition districts” — areas where Black, Latino, and Asian voters banded together to elect their preferred candidates — unconstitutional.
This gave Republicans the legal authority to redraw the maps outside of the usual cycle. Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session to pass the measure over objections from Democrats and minority advocacy groups.
Critics accused Republicans of trying to weaken the electoral influence of minority voters while increasing their numbers in the House. The redistricting targeted five Democratic-held seats. Opponents also took issue with a lack of transparency. Democratic lawmakers fled the state to stall the vote on the redistricting measure.
Nevertheless, the measure passed.
Texas’ redistricting fight had national repercussions. California’s voters passed Proposition 50 earlier this month through a statewide ballot measure to temporarily allow its legislature to redraw congressional districts. The move is aimed at adding five new Democratic seats to counteract Texas’ action.
Other Democrat-run states are expected to follow suit.
Indiana Republicans recently came under fire after they indicated that they would not pass legislation to redraw the state’s maps to favor GOP candidates.
President Donald Trump threatened to support primary challenges against Indiana Republican lawmakers who were not on board with the idea.
“Very disappointed in Indiana State Senate Republicans, led by RINO Senators Rod Bray and Greg Goode, for not wanting to redistrict their State, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The Democrats have done redistricting for years, often illegally, and all other appropriate Republican States have done it.”